Humanity at War: Earth's Last Stand
by EliteOp
Summary: A hero from another time wakes up in a whole new war. Except this time the commander is not the main protagonist.
1. Earth 2552

**YAY, REWRITE! I am restarting my story with a better, descriptive style. Thanks for feedback to all who told me about... the lack of story and enjoy the rewrite!**

_I've lived through hell. I died, came back to life and stopped a threat to our galaxy that I... We as a whole couldn't understand. Twice. I never knew, never, that there was more than the Reapers. And that I would get thrown in the middle of a whole other war. I am Commander John Shepard. And this is my new story._

**Humanity at War: Earth's last stand**

Earth 2552. Near New Mombasa, African subcontinent.

"Found him sir. He looks pretty banged up." A soldier said as a team of 3 walked up to a green-armored colossus

"What do you expect? He be sunshine and flowers after a crash like that? Check him marine, double time!" Another soldier, which seemed to be the leader, said. "Everyone else scout around. I want to make sure this area is clear." He said, hand signaling other teams around them.

One marine went to search behind a bush. He saw something he couldn't believe. A man lay on the ground, armor all torn off. Some bits looked reckognizable. Back in the 2100s humanity colonized space. His armor looked like that of an N7, a special task force that got disbanded with the end of a giant threat, the _Reapers_. A synthetic alien group that was hell bent on killing everyone in the galaxy. The marine soon called out "Sarge?! You may want to see this!"

The leader rushed. He saw and he couldn't believe. "I think I know him." The sergeant said. Sergeant Johnson, a career military man and a marine in the UNSC. Leader of Charlie Kilo, or Covenant Killer squad.

"Pulse is right. What do we do Sarge?" The marine next to the soldier asked

"I got it sir! Armor's unlocked!" The marine technician checking the Spartan's armor said.

"Haul him out of here as well." Johnson said, pointing at the man laying on the ground. He then went back to the Spartan. He kneeled and pulled a chip out of the armor helmet. He then stared at the Spartan

"We ain't leaving him behind." He said as he turned to his soldiers. The Spartan woke up and grabbed the sergeant's hand.

"No, No you ain't." He then said

"Crazy fool, why do you always jump?!" Johnson said with a hint of anger. "One of these days you're gonna land on someone as stubborn as you are! And I don't do bits and pieces." He then finished. "Where's she Chief? Where's Cortana?" Johnson then asked, reluctantly.

"She stayed behind." The Spartan answered, putting the chip back in his helmet. Some strange fluctuation in the air ahead appeared. Chief instantly rushed with an M6 Magnum to it and forced the gun against something. An alien decloaked.

"Chief wait! The Arbiter's with us!" Johnson said, rushing next to them. "Come on now. We've got enough trouble without you two trying to kill eachother." He looked at the Chief. Chief lowered his gun.

"Were it so easy." The Arbiter, an alien Elite. His species was part of the Covenant. Now no longer. They allied with humanity.  
>The entire unit started moving. They went over a few downed trees and between some bushes. Chief was on point. He signaled a stop near a rock, then signaled 2 marines to move across to the next cover. A few Covenant forces, Brutes and Grunts, stay between them and a way to escape. They were in open space.<p>

"They weren't much for taking cover ever. Were they?" A marine next to the Spartan asked. Chief answered by firing his battle rifle. It hit a brute in the head and at that moment all hell broke loose. For the Covies. Chief made short work of each of them. A bullet in the head of a grunt ended it. This one came from a marine.

"Clear!" came as a confirmation that all Covenant were dead. Except one. A brute was going behind the Chief to kill him. Before it even rose it's Mauler, a Covenant spike gun, it got hit in the back of the head by a bullet from a Magnum.

"Looks like our friend woke up." Johnson said, turning back. The man soon regained full consciousness. He let out a small screech and tried to get up.

"Where am I?! WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!" He asked, trying to lift himself up. A marine put him laying back on the rock. "Who am I is a better question."

"We don't know sir. I can tell you you are on Earth and we are the UNSC. Nothing more." A female marine said. "We'll find out who you are back at Crow's Nest." She told him. "Crow's Nest" Is how the UNSC refers to a makeshift base in Africa. Where the marines are trying to get with the Chief. The Spartan gave him a hand up, showing he wants to help. The man grabbed the hand and got pulled up.

"Easy there. You nearly pulled my shoulder out of it's socket." The man said.

"Can you fight?" Johnson asked. The answer came as a nod from the man. He got handed a rifle and an ammo bandolier. Extras marines carry around.

"Thanks. I feel safer already." He said. "Let's go!" He then yelled. They started hauling ass to the evacuation site. Few pockets of resistance around. They took them out easily. At the hydroelectric plant. They had height advantage. The unknown soldier set up with a sniper rifle he had found in a Pelican crash.

"Go." He said "I got you covered."

Chief nodded and the marines went down. The man sniped 3 grunts already. One brute went after chief but it didn't make it far. The bullet went through it's skull. The area was clear. The man slid down and followed everyone else in a running pace, sniper holstered on his back.

**A mile later. Main Dam.**

The Arbiter pointed at a holding cell

"Can you cover us from here?" The Arbiter asked. The man shook his head.

"I want to be in the fight if you don't mind." He answered. The Spartan and Elite just nodded and they all went down the hill. They took out a few covie troops to the prison. A brute chieftain went for the Arbiter. It got shot in the back with a sniper. Huh if long range was bad, the hole were the head was at close range was twice the size.

Johnson came out of the prison and thanked the 3, so did his marines. A phantom came, Covenant dropship. They held the troops off until a Pelican came and destroyed the damned thing with rockets. A few marines aboard signaled to board. Everyone left safely. No casualties. They were all headed to Crow's Nest.

**And so it begins. Thanks guys for being patient with my style of writing. Next chapter will be a bit of backstory while "The Unknown Man" is in Sickbay, being checked. Until then. Later everyone!**


	2. Shepard reporting

**Crow's Nest Medbay, 10th November 2552**

The man sat on a bunk, reading telemetry data on a tablet, when suddenly a file which had his photo as a mark showed up. He opened it.

-ACCESING FILE: ALPHA-

Alliance personnel files, Normandy team.

Leader: Commander John A. Shepard

Background: Earthborn

Psych profile: War Hero.

Class: Soldier

Bio: Commander John Allan Shepard, acting captain of the SSV Normandy of the Alliance during the Reaper War, was a man of great honor among his people and aliens alike. The Citadel Council themselves appointed the commander (Under request from the Ambassador of humanity) the first Human Spectre (Read file on Spectres in Codex) He fought in the Skyllian Blitz against a batarian raid on the human colony of Elysium. He lead his team with bravery and courage, getting everyone out without a casualty. He much later got appointed to fight Saren (a rogue Spectre) and won, saving the Council along the way. A few months later he was appointed to clear hostile Geth, a synthetic race, from the Terminus systems, where he has encountered the Collectors. [...]

The file continued on but he stopped reading there. He couldn't believe he saw his face next to this kind of information. He stood up and said "Hey doc? Can I have a suit of armor?", his face going a white worse than death. He read one more line which said

Status: MIA, presumed dead. MIA meant Missing In Action.

"Damn." He then said. The doctor brought him an armor set and he put it on. He left soon after he thanked.

**Command Centre 03:00 hours.**

"Anything else Commander Keyes?" An older man on the screen said. He was wearing a military uniform used by admirals and UNSC Navy captains.  
>The soldier walked in in marine armor, saluting.<p>

"Find out who you are?" The arbiter asked.

"Commander John Shepard reporting." He said, staring down everyone.

Everyone just looked at him, surprised. Everyone except the Arbiter.

**To be continued**


	3. Paragade Shep and a prophet

**Crow's Nest Command Center, 03:12 hours**

"Wait up. Name again?" Commander Miranda Keyes, UNSC commander of the Forward Unto Dawn frigate and commander-in-chief of the "Crow's Nest" base said.

"John Allan Shepard, Commander, Alliance Navy N7 soldier and Spectre." He swiftly answered. "So I understand this is 2552. I never catch a break do I?" He then finished, shrugging in his usual way.

"John Shepard. The man that saved the galaxy from extinction. You sir are a legend." Johnson said while staring at Shepard. The commander stared right back. Keyes walked up to him and shook his hand.

"Sir." She then said, backing off and saluting.

"At ease...?" He then said. "Keyes" came as an answer from the woman. "Miranda Keyes. I command my own frigate, sir."

"Very well. I have a question for you commander." Lord Hood, the high fleet admiral commanding the whole UNSC fleet through the under admirals, said with high respect in his voice.

"Yes sir Lord Hood. Shoot." Shepard then said, smiling.

"Will you help us against the Covenant? 'Cause if you know my name you must know of our war and current, dire situation." Lord Hood said, scratching the back of his head.

"Commander Shepard reporting on Deck Lord Hood." Shepard answered "Waiting to kick some alien ass on your orders, oh and here sir." He then said, utilizing his omnitool to send some data towards the Charon MAC station.

"Should help you with my equipment requirements?" the commander said.

"Aye aye commander." Came as an answer from Lord Hood. "Allright people let's talk battle plan. We-" The feed from the monitor cut along with lights. Soon after an alien, a High Prophet, came onscreen and started mumbling.

"Switch to emergency generators!" Keyes yelled to one of the marines.

"You are vermin, all of you! Your world will burn until it's nothing but ash and glass!" The prophet said said.

"Wait wait who are you?" Shepard asked.

"Who is this? An insolent soldier of yours?" Truth said

"I am Commander Shepard. And I ask again Who the hell are you?" the commander said, anger in his voice.

"I am the High Prophet of Truth, Leader of the Covenant and voice of our gods!" Truth answered

"High Prophet? Okay I don't know what drugs you're on but try me and my people, I will be the one to personally put a bullet in your head!" Shepard said. **(Just to be clear my Shep is a Paragon... but he will be saying renegade stuff here and there)**

"INSOLENT PEST!" The prophet said as he slammed his hand into his chair. "You and your kind will die in pain for those words!" He then cut the feed.

"That... went well?" Chief said with half a mouth.

"You should not have angered the prophet, commander." The Arbiter said as the power came back online. "He will take his revenge."

"He will get a bullet lodged in his skull way before he can lay a finger on me... What is your name?" Shepard said.

"I am the Arbiter, leader of the Sangheili kind. I read about your acts of honor in the 2100s. I still wonder how did you live so long?"

"Ma'am" A marine interrupted, "We got covenant dropships! Lots of them!"

Keyes stared down the soldier and said "Call up all units! Initiate Protocol Charlie! Set up the nuke!" Keyes said as she walked up the stairs, pulling her pistol out.

"Ma'am!" The comm officer said "Fireteam leads request RV points! Where should they go?"

Keyes cocked back her pistol, turned with an angry face and said "To war."

Alarms started allover the base. Shepard turned to Chief and said "I need a gun," He said "Master Chief?" The Chief looked at him through the visor and said "Yes?" Shepard shook his hand, saying "Good to meet you."

"Let's go people!" Johnson said.

**To be continued.**


	4. Crow's Nest fight

**Crow's Nest Pelican hangar Alpha-01**

Shepard, Chief and Johnson grabbed weapons from the locker in the control room for the hangar. Shepard stared down at his MA5B assault rifle.. A name rang in his head as his vision blurred a little

_"Ashley..._ Ashley"

He woke up as Chief tapped him on the shoulder and signaled him to stay calm.

"Something wrong sir?" Johnson asked.

"Nothing Sarge, and call me Shepard. Makes me feel better." Shepard answered, reloading his rifle. The quiet then turned into hell as a Covenant Phantom dropship entered the hangar. Soon grunts and brutes started dropping out. Shepard exited the booth and took cover next to a minigun turret. Chief and Johnson went out and started shooting at enemies from cover. Shepard stood up and used the MG turret. Soon bullet shells fell on the ground by the hundreds as the commander gunned for the brutes. Blood spilled from them and even more shells fell, some of them still warm and smoking from the shot. More and more rounds kept hitting the Covenant lines, some rarely missing. Soon a click was heard from Shepard's turret just as a second Covie dropship entered.

"Crap! The heavy gun's out!" Shepard then cried out. He unslung his rifle from his back and started shooting. He went down to were Chief was and they fired together.

"Keep them pinned!" Shepard said. Chief nodded and they kept on firing. The commander took cover and grabbed a frag grenade. He threw it and it blew on contact next to a bunch of grunts. There was shiny blue and red blood allover the floor, some draining through the smoke vents down bellow the hangar. No covenant trooper made it out of there.

"Hangar clear!" Came as a marine got out of cover. It was the same medic from the sickbay. Shepard wiped some sweat off his head, popped the empty clip out of his rifle, and banged in a fresh one. He then holstered his rifle.

"Damn Shepard! The only man I've seen fight so hard is the Chief!" Johnson said, smiling as he walked up to the pair.

"Huh I bet. Chief's a good shot, might I add." Shepard concurred, pointing back at the Spartan.

"Alright. All defensive teams head for evacuation! The nuke is set and ready to blow!" Keyes said through comms.

"Copy that." Chief said. He signaled everyone to head for the Pelican landing pad in Charlie Sector.

**A few tunnels later.**

The Arbiter and his Elite team were holding off some brutes just as Chief and Shepard rushed in. Shepard threw his second grenade and finished the aliens off.

"Good to see you two." Arbiter said. "The female commander said we should head for evacuation."

"Attention all teams! Damned covies made it to the CC! The nuke is offline! We need someone to reactivate it. Any team that can do that call in now." Keyes said through comms.

"We're on it, commander." Chief answered.

"Great. Arbiter you and your team head for evac. We got the bomb." Shepard said.

"Very well. Commander, Spartan? See you on the other side as your people would say." the Arbiter said. He and his team rushed off for the pad.

"Last one out, hit the lights right?" Shepard said.

"Yeah..." Chief answered.

**Crow's Nest Command Centre, 04:20 hours.**

Chief and the commander hid behind some low walls to surprise the enemy. A brute chieftain in gold armor sat next to the bomb as a grunt tried to disarm it. 2 more jackals stood guard. Chief popped out of cover and blasted the grunt's head clean off. The jackals turned their blue shields on in a flash of light. Shepard tossed his last grenade and it detonated right behind them. All that's left is the chieftain. He lifted his Fuel Rod Cannon and fired one shot. It destroyed Shepard's cover but he was fine. Chief hit the brute and then Shepard rushed and killed it with his omniblade. The hot red tip pierced the brute's chest and exited the other side.

"That's for my planet you alien bastard!" Shepard said, angrily. He pulled the blade out and the brute fell dead on the ground. The wound was cauterized by the blade. Chief went to rearm the nuke.

"What's taking so long?" Shepard said. Chief stood there, not saying a thing as he tried to reactivate the nuke. "This is taking to long!" Shepard said. He bashed the trigger mechanism and it turned on. 1 minute to escape.

"Great. Let's go!" Shepard said. They ran through wave and wave of covenant trying to escape the doomed base, and soon reached the hangar they had fought in no less than an hour ago. They went left and entered the freight elevator leading down to the Warthog garages. It nearly reached just as the explosion entered through a small crack in the door. The shockwave knocked Shepard out.

**Okay people, recap time. I completely rewrote half of where I was by now. Shepard is back, his omnitool functional and omniblade working. Ashley will be back later on and Chief is just as badass as ever. Alright you guys see ya in the next chapter**

**-JM**


	5. Tsavo trouble

**Crow's Nest Warthog garages.**

Shepard woke up with his ears ringing, signaling he was alive. He did not feel anything broken or any pain and just as he started to twitch a bit a green figure appeared in his blurred vision. As his sights cleared, he saw it was Chief, extending a helping hand. He accepted it and got up.

"You ok Commander? Rough fall you took." Chief asked.

"Yeah... I haven't felt a blast that powerful since..." Shepard paused, thinking hard "Well since the Crucible exploded... I saw every part of my life... The Normandy... Ash... Garrus... Tali... Everyone and everything." He then said, scared. "What happen to the Council? The Alliance?"

"We will explain on the way." Johnson came up and said. "Alright marines! Huddle up!" Johnson called out to his fellow squadmates. "We've seen what the Squibs can do! We've fought them since Harvest!" He then yelled angrily "You remember your history class! Commander Shepard here fought for EVERY OUNCE of land! Be it with or without help! He was our model, Our portrait, how UNSC CAME TO BE! If we find the Council! IF they find us! We will tell them what happen! What we had to fight! And then we'll see if they will second-guess us again! They fought with us, remember that. They may be alien, but they accepted us, aided us, hell the turians even called us brothers! I want to remind you one thing! We spot one of the council Species, we call out to command. Now marines, are we gonna kick some covie ass back to their Holy Land?" Johnson cried out to his team.

"HOOAH! HOOAH HOOAH!" Came as an answer from all marines, Shepard and the Chief.

"Mm Hmm. That's what I'm talking about! Now board these hogs and go give them the GREEN HELL!" Johnson finished off, nearly cracking a smile.

"Hell of a speech Sarge." Shepard said. "Reminds me of my days fighting." He shook Johnson's hand, smiling.

"You were a model to me and my friends back in the UNSC Marines academy. Your history got us the most. Hell I read about Elysium."

"Good to hear. Chief, let's move." Shepard said. Chief nodded and they both boarded the MG Hog. Shepard was using the gun while Chief was driving.

"Gentlemen, Start your engines." Shepard said as he cocked his machinegun, wide smile. They all drove out of the garages only to be welcomed by sunlight, Covenant sniper's nests and Plasma rounds. Shepard didn't give a damn, he just shot any enemy in sight.

"I've got the reach and teeth of a killing machine with the need to bleed you when the light goes green, best believe i'm in the zone to be, from my Ying to My Yang to my Yangtze..." The marines sang, along with Shepard, this was the warrior song, to be later known as the Alliance Marines Choir and today The UNSC Marine March. Shepard sang continuously as he gunned down covie elite after elite.

"Come to the nightmare come to me..." Shepard said, the 50 Cal. rounds from the minigun hitting a brute straight through it's thick skull.

"This is what I'm talking about!" Johnson yelled from the troop hog he drove.

"Now we live mean to inflict the green friend the least of me still out of your reach!" 3 marines chorused from the troop hog as they shot at the helpless grunts. The gauss hog took down the sniper's nests, those damned floating platforms with cover, with one shot each.

"Next time think twice before screwing with humanity!" Shepard cried out, accompanied by the sound of bullets hitting the jetpack brutes that tried to attack them. The rounds rang through the sky and stopped right into the brutes armor, one jetpacker even getting ignited by a stray tracer that hit his fuel tank.

"... We are marines and this is our song! Our Eyes are steeled and ourcase is rought! We are marines and this is our song!" Chief sang as he ran over a brute with a fuel rod that was about to shoot them.

As they reached an entry path to the Tsavo Highway, which lead straight into New Mombasa's ruins, they saw 3 brute Choppers. If those things hit a vehicle they'd tear it to shreds, be it with their cannons or head on collisions. Chief pulled out his magnum and blasted a brute that was trying to ram them off the edge straight in the head. Shepard gunned at the 2 left, one of which exploded. The other didn't manage to fall back as a stray round from a marine blasted it's head clean off.  
>The marines got on the Highway with the hogs, where they were welcomed by a Wraith, covenant tank, and it's plasma mortar. A shot hit the Gauss hog and took it down. It was down to Chief, Shepard and Sergeant Johnson to get everyone across to NM's docks.<p>

"I'll distract the Wraith! Shoot it in the backside!" Johnson cried to Chief. He drove around the Wraith, giving Chief and the commander clear sight onto the weak point behind it, a small exhaust port which also housed the hover-engine of the tank. Shepard fired his last MG rounds into it. A satisfying clank in the tank's engine and then a massive blue explosion showed the tank was down for good. They disabled a barrier that was blocking the tunnel acces from vehicles.  
>Shepard and Chief got off the Warthog to stare at what the Covenant ships were doing.<p>

"They're digging something out... It almost looks... Prothean?" Shepard said.

"Not quite. One of the more ancient civilizations did that. Forerunners is what we call them. Contemporary with the Protheans... Though I can't quite tell why they didn't get exterminated at the same time." Keyes said as her pelican came in behind the warthogs. "Lord Hood, we got them in sight." She then called out.

"A relief to my heart commander." the old man said. "Alright marines, it is time we sent the Prophet of Truth and the Covenant to the grave they've been so thoughtfully digging. Today we end this war!" He called out to his troops.

"Heroes never rest do they Master Chief?" Shepard asked.

"No, we don't get sick days either." Chief said.

"Hahah. Alright Chief. If we end this war fast I owe you and your unit some drinks." Shepard said. "Saddle up."

**To be continued.**


End file.
